Mr Wrong
by obsidians
Summary: In a rush of sympathy Ukyou marries Mousse, will she come to regret it?
1. Chapter 1

Yes it is me attempting to write again. I hopefully will finish something one of these day.

I thank those who attempted to contact me out of concern. Not to sound depressing, but my husband has been out of work for a couple months and as result I have been trying to pay the bills/mortgage out of my limited salary and supply him with cash when I can. This tends to make me upset and therefore not very communicative with people who only want to be entertained by me. He did find a temp job but someone in a commercial tow rig (the huge ones) hit his car and he got replaced by the agency/job gone. Luckily the tires only grazed his car.

Well there you go, sorry to do boo hoo again. Hope you like my new story.

Sid

Ukyo sat in the Nekohanten, feeling jaded beyond her years. She mourned the passing of her recent love affair while she surreptitiously sipped the sake she had secreted in a bottle of water. She didn't normally drink or frequent the restaurant of a competitor, but feeling low had sought the comfort of the Amazons, who had almost become like friends to her. Not that they knew of her depression.

Akari...Ukyo could picture her pretty woman-child face in her mind, how it was framed by the silky sage-green hair that Ukyo had loved to slip her fingers through. Akari of the soft skin and kissable lips. It had been a strange affair.

Ukyo had been stranded while camping on a particularly cold night; she'd sought shelter at nearest farm house and had discovered the second greatest love of her life. Akari had been curious about the cross dressing chef, and that had led to her trying a lesbian love affair for the first time in her life. It had been a first for Ukyo too. Ukyo had felt the sting of rejection so many from Ranma, that she welcomed arms that wanted to hold her, yet Akari herself was the opposite of everything Ukyo was. She loved to dress feminine and had a tinkling laugh that lit up the lonely chef's life for a brief moment...too brief. Ukyo had justified her affair with Akari, that she would always love Ranma and marry him, just why wait when love was being freely offered?

She and Akari had met discreetly and explored the realm of girly love together. She found Akari's love of pigs a tad odd. Then one day when Ukyo called Akari, she admitted that she'd met a boy who could become a pig and they had been getting together behind Ukyo's back. That she was in love and wanted to marry him...Ryoga. She had broke it to her gently, but went on to tell Ukyo that she much preferred men. Ukyo could only mourn that she'd lost her second love to...Ryoga Hibiki.

This lead to Ukyo staring dully into the slowly cooling ramen in front of her that she couldn't eat and feeling sorry for herself as she pondered the rest of her life. But what was there to ponder? She would marry Ranma and together they would open a restaurant. She would be happy being his wife and bearing his children, end of story. She was after all his first fiancée, hadn't his father arranged it that way? She sighed and suddenly wondered what everyone was looking at and whispering. She looked up to see Mousse in handcuffs being lead away by official looking men in suits.

"Elder Cologne, tell them I'm here on a work visa that you arranged!" he cried in agitation. "I'm not working here illegally, you told me that!"

Shampoo and Cologne exchanged amused glances, "sorry Mousse I must have forgot to arrange for yours when I got ours" Cologne said in mock sympathy. Ukyo could only surmise that this was an attempt to remove the Chinese martial artist from her great-grandmother's life.

"Shampoo, do something!" Mousse wailed to her as he struggled in his bonds and against his captors.

"Sorry son, you are in this country illegally and shall be deported back to China. That was the risk you took when you attempted to defraud the government" one man chided.

"Shampoo can't help you, you should have known better" Shampoo said with a note of triumph in her voice.

"It's true, had I realized you didn't have a work visa; I would never have hired you" Cologne shot back.

"But you said you would handle that, you old ghoul!" Mousse cried. "I never tried to defraud anyone!"

"It too bad, send me postcard from China. Bye, bye" Shampoo said, waving goodbye in an exaggerated manner.

"Come quietly son, you'll spend the night at the detention center and be on a plane tomorrow. I'd advise you to get the right paperwork the next time you try to enter Japan" the man said.

"But how did you know even I was working here?" Mousse cried, jerking against them.

"A little birdie told them" Shampoo replied.

"Yes it's sad to lose somewhat adequate help, but I can always find another busboy" Cologne said cheerfully as Mousse was pulled protesting towards the door.

Ukyo sat there frozen at the injustice of the scene. She wasn't great friend with the other martial artist and actually found his obsession with Shampoo to be rather pathetic; however she knew how it felt to be strung along. She knew that she had to do something, without thinking, fuelled by liquid courage or stupidity juice; (depending on the way you look at alcohol) she stood and demanded, "where do you think you're taking my fiancé?"

Everyone froze "your fiancé?" the first official questioned.

"Yes, we've been secretly engaged for a while now. Get your hands off of him" she snarled.

"You're Japanese?" the other one questioned tentatively.

"Born and bred" she said with her hands on her hips.

"Mousse it true?" Shampoo asked in surprise.

Mousse's eyes went as round as marbles at the unexpected kindness from Ukyo, but he wasn't stupid, he saw a way of staying in Japan with his beloved Shampoo and grabbed onto it with a death grip, "it's true. We're in love" he stammered.

"He can get a spousal visa if you marry him right away" the first man commented.

Shampoo and Cologne exchanged a meaningful look, seeing a way to eliminate part of the competition and get Mousse of their hair in one fell swoop. "I can sign for him as his legal guardian if you want to get married today" she declared.

"Yes Shampoo's old friend get married. Shampoo so happy" she said smiling sweetly at Mousse, who suddenly looked ill.

"Wait she doesn't have any family to sign for her, right darling?" he stammered.

Ukyo suddenly felt a sense of panic; she'd thought that they would just let him go if they thought he had a fiancée. "I-I want a big church wedding" she said.

"How old are you miss?" the one official asked her. "You have to be twenty to legally marry in Japan or you have your parent's permission."

"I know lots of things about my future son-in-law's girls. She IS twenty" Cologne declared, happy that the prying Nabiki had found out the supposedly sixteen-year-old Ukyo's true age.

Ukyou blushed and stammered "h-how did you know?" It was a secret that she'd never revealed to anyone.

Cologne smirked at her, "it's an Amazon secret" was all she replied to this.

Shampoo's look was of first surprise, which quickly faded to a smirk, "twenty? My Ranma would never love old woman" she declared.

Ukyou glared in challenge back at her and then lowered her head to be stripped bare in public like this. "My father claimed I was younger for our martial arts" she admitted and he had. Wanting to draw attention to their unusual culinary-based martial arts, he'd claimed that the then nine-year-old Ukyou was five, after he'd taken her on the road with him and their cart, claiming she was a child protégé. Ukyou had been short for her age and looked really young, however she'd been able to perform feats of strength and dexterity that a girl her true age couldn't do. She'd become a minor celebrity as result. So they kept up the pretense, even after she'd been engaged to Ranma and dumped by him all in the same day, taking her father's livelihood with him.

After that, she and her despondent father took jobs in any restaurant that would hire them. She didn't see the point in correcting her age and decided life would be easier lived as a boy. She had a friend make her a fake id and used that after her father died, of what she thought of as being a broken heart, for losing his honour and getting both Ukyou and himself ostracized from their family. It was only when she sought revenge on Ranma and fell in love with him, that she realized he might not like to marry an older girl, that her true age might be relevant to him, so she kept up the pretense and became the sixteen-year-old cross dressing chef. It was her true age that allowed her to inherit the money that her great-grandmother left her when she came of age. It was her true age that allowed her to purchase the restaurant and sign the mortgage. A sixteen year old girl couldn't have done any of that.

"So there's no problem, young men you must have a car. I mean I doubt you were planning to drag Mousse here away in chains on a bicycle" Cologne quipped.

"We hardly use chains in these matters" he protested.

"Good, good. Let's go get these two hitched and spare Japan a deportation fee" she said, prodding him with her staff.

"That is remanded back to the deportee" the other man protested.

"Yes well, let's spare Mousse the trouble and you can drive us to the courthouse, they're anxious to be married. Aren't you boy? It would be a shame to miss the girl you love" she said, glancing at Shampoo.

That galvanized Mousse into action, even being stuck in a marriage of convenience with a virtual stranger was better then not seeing Shampoo at all "of course I want to marry Ukyou, today is fine. Why wait...honey?" he said, looping an arm around her waist and giggling nervously.

Ukyou fought the urge to hit him with her spatula, for being so forward. "I would like at least a couple days to plan, I'm not even dressed for a wedding" she said, just as nervous as Mousse and blushing furiously.

"You look beautiful just how you are. You'll make a lovely bride. The Nekohanten promises to host a real wedding for you later on, we'll foot the bill" Cologne declared.

"It be beautiful, we decorate like proper Chinese wedding with Japanese decorations included and make huge buffet," Shampoo said clasping her hands at the vision.

"But what about...?" Ukyou protested.

"But what about who dear?" Cologne asked, pressing her cane gently, yet threateningly against Ukyou's chest. "You are engaged to Mousse aren't you? You love only him right?" she asked her through narrowed eyes.

Ukyou gulped, feeling trapped "let's go get married Mousse-chan" she declared and allowed the men to escort them to an unmarked black car.

"Shampoo, aren't you coming with us?" Mousse cried frantically after her.

"No, she has to look after the restaurant. Besides, I have to give my consent for you to marry," Cologne said hopping into the backseat energetically, a move that bellied her years. She sat in between the unhappy couple, who looked like they were being driven to their funerals, rather then to their wedding.

Neither one looked at each other as they filled out the paperwork and were married at least on paper, without all the pomp and frilly dresses that normally accompanied an Asian wedding.

The two immigration officers were nice enough to present the couple with a couple of free passes to a bowling alley that they had purchased for themselves earlier. With sound congratulations, they dropped them off at the restaurant.

It was a despondent Mousse and Ukyou who slunk through the door...only to be covered in a layer of confetti. "Hiya, Shampoo so happy" she cried flinging her arms around both of them and giving them a swift hug, only to pull sharply out of Mousse's own hug and glare at him. She turned to Ukyou "now you my Amazon sister" she declared.

"Look, I just want to go home" she said pulling out of the enthusiastic embrace of the purple haired teenager.

"And I need to get back to work" Mousse said, relieved that he was allowed to stay with Shampoo. He vowed that he would have a long talk with Ukyou at a later time and explain to her that their sham of a marriage wouldn't have to change a thing. For now, he just wanted to bask in Shampoo's presence. "I just want to change my clothes first" he said, promising himself that he would burn that particular robe and pants for what they signified to him now. He couldn't believe he was legally someone's husband! He didn't feel like he was! "What would a Japanese woman even want from him?" he wondered with a frown as he pictured himself cleaning her apartment, making her meals, binding her breasts for her...he blushed heavily at his last thought...and pulled his mind out of the gutter.

"But your clothes no here" Shampoo said with a shake of her head.

Both Ukyou and Mousse froze at this. "What do you mean?" he asked more calmly than he felt.

"I call Konatsu and tell him to come get Ukyou's new husband's clothes as Mousse now living there; we storing pickle jars in your old room now. He did, but told me to tell Ukyou that he quit and called Mousse a really rude name. Shampoo not know why." she said with a frown and a shrug. "So Mousse's clothes, personal belongings and weapons now at Ukyou's apartment where he now live"

"But what about my job!" he cried.

"You keep if your wife let you," Shampoo said in a sweet sounding voice that plunged daggers into Mousse's heart with each word.

Ukyou could only frown at the game the two women were playing with her...husband she realized. Placing a sisterly hand on Mousse's shoulder, she said, "come on, let's go home and figure this out."

With the air of one defeated, Mousse let her lead him back to her apartment above her restaurant.

He without saying a word, moved his stuff out of Ukyou's room and into the spare room that Konatsu had obviously vacated that same day. Ukyou assumed the same air of gravity when she helped him by sweeping up the bits of junk that that Konatsu had left behind and together, they stripped the bed and put fresh linen on it that Ukyou had produced.

They both felt comfortable in their silence and felt no need to break it, until Mousse turned to Ukyou and said, "Now what?"

"I don't know. I'm going to need a new waiter though" she replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry about posting the wrong chapter yesterday, I had to post and dash.

Won't happen again in the future.

Sid

Mousse studied the virtual stranger before him, who was now his wife. He'd always found her to be a little plain and kind of weird for cross dressing, yet now he took in her luscious curves that lay beneath her bindings, her long luxurious long chocolate brown hair and blue eyes and realized that she was actually quite attractive. Her face was cute with a tiny button nose and full lips. Yet, she wasn't Shampoo and no other girl would ever capture his heart the way his long-time love did. "I can't be your waiter, I already have a job" he replied. He felt trapped and out of his element, being in a strange place.

Ukyou studied him as well; she also had found him to be rather plain with his dorky glasses and clumsy ways and his baggy clothes certainly did nothing to improve his appearance. She compared his features to those of Ranma's and resolved that her fake marriage would never interfere with her real one to Ranma in the future. "Perhaps you could work part time here until I find a replacement for Konatsu?" she suggested, wincing as she remembered the insulting note that Konatsu had left on her bed, telling her exactly what he thought of her marrying a back-water, bumbling gaijin. "It would only be for a little while, besides we have to got you registered for school."

"School?" Mousse said in surprise.

"Sure, this place is closed during the day when school is open so that I can attend myself, why shouldn't you? It would look great on your immigration application and could open new opportunities for your future. Do you want that, or do you intend to follow Shampoo around for the rest of your life?" she asked him with her hands on her hips. Curious what his reaction would be.

"I intend to go back to China and be Shampoo's husband, as soon as all this business with Ranma is settled" he replied.

See a way out of this marriage, she said, "So you don't intend to _stay_ in Japan?"

Mousse shook his head, "I'm only here as long as Shampoo is."

"So you wouldn't mind getting a divorce before you leave?" Ukyou inquired.

"No, as soon as Shampoo goes, I go. But before that I shall grant you your freedom. I do want to thank you for what you did"

Ukyou blushed at the sincerity in his voice. "I guess we can just live together as brother and sister, work together and go to school together. On paper we can be married, but we will tell the people we know the truth. Can you agree to that?" she asked.

Mousse held out his hand and said "I do," causing both people to laugh and promoting the start of a good friendship. It would have remained a friendship if fate hadn't interfered.

The Kuonji Mansion

Aiko Kuonji stretched after a long day spent teaching her third level students the art of mixing the secret sauces that had made her clan so famous. She worked as both the CEO of her line of restaurants and as part time teacher these days and was constantly busy. Still, working out with her students kept her forty-year-old figure that of a woman much younger.

She was taller than her estranged daughter, but with the same mouthwatering curves. She also favoured unisex clothing, but more on the feminine side. Her shoulder length dark hair held a few gray hairs. Her eyes were large and gray, as her daughter had inherited her blue eyes from her father.

She had just taken a long, hot bath and poured herself a glass of wine to relax.

Wearing only a plush white bathrobe, she thought about her estranged husband again. Hers had been an arranged marriage; he was a distant cousin of hers that was selected as her mate, to bring into their clan a recipe for a secret sauce he had developed. He had been a plain, stocky man that the gorgeous Aiko wouldn't normally have glanced at twice, but he had been a skilled martial artist and theirs had been a comfortable marriage...until _it_ had happened.

When Ukyou had been born, Aiko had been relieved to find out that she favoured her in looks more then her husband. After all, Aiko had not only been a respected martial artist chef at such a young age, but the beauty of her generation.

She watched her daughter grow and show great promise as a future okonomiyaki chef martial artist. She longed to teach her all about their school and groom her as future leader, when her husband suggested that he take her on a training/working trip that would make her into a powerful chef. He argued that she would grow up spoiled with their heated dojos and climate controlled kitchens, if she didn't see the real world and learn to cook in the wilds of Japan. He himself built a cart and to his surprise, his wife agreed to their trip. Aiko supposed that he was sick of simply being Mr. Her and standing back while his wife took center stage.

That was the last she had seen of either of them. When her grandfather, who was head of the clan, had learned that he had traded away his livelihood and engaged his great-granddaughter without permission, he ordered that neither of them were to return until their honour was restored. It angered him that Aiko's husband and daughter had potentially given away the clan secrets to outsiders. Aiko had pleaded on their behalf and begged that at least her daughter be allowed to return home, only to be told she would lose her own place in the family if she persisted. So she had let them go, but vowed to keep Ukyou's place safe for her on the day she could return.

Her husband's death had hurt Aiko, for despite the fact she hadn't loved him, he had been a good husband and father. She also mourned that her young daughter was now all alone in the world.

Aiko had been getting reports about her daughter for a long time now and knew all about what she did. She was proud of her for running such a fine restaurant and the detective had assured her that her okonomiyaki would do her family proud. She was proud that she was doing so well in school and was hopeful that Ukyou would marry the boy who caused her disgrace in the first place.

Humming softly to herself, she logged onto her facebook and checked out Ukyou's profile. Her jaw dropped when under relationships, which formally had read "it's complicated," had been changed to "married."

Gulping her wine, she picked up the phone and ordered that the private jet be gassed up to go to Nerima, Tokyo. If her daughter had married, then her honour was restored and Aiko's grandfather would have to let her back into the clan.

Out of the Cat's Mouth

Ranma growled when the Chinese girl rode her bicycle into their living room...via the picture window. He loudly complained when she latched onto him and made Akane mad. "Shampoo what are you doing here?" he asked the clinging girl.

"I come bring wedding invitation for Airen. We go together, yes?" she asked hopefully.

"What wedding?" Akane asked.

"I bring one for Tendo family too. It for Ukyou's and Mousse's wedding in two weeks. We throw them huge wedding and banquet at restaurant" she explained. "Perhaps Akane have something to wear that not make her look like she gets dressed in the dark?" she sweetly asked the seething blue hair girl.

The people mentioned caused Akane to pause,"I'm sorry, did you say Ukyou and Mousse?" Akane repeated slowly.

"Yes, more like vow renewal I suppose, they got married this morning" she explained with a shrug.

"Wait, that can't be right" Ranma said, he wasn't jealous about that idea about Ukyou with another guy; she was like a sister to him if truth be told. But Mousse? It just didn't add up.

"It truth, great-grandmother witnessed it. Did you know that Ukyou was twenty-years-old?" she said with a pause. "Now, sorry I can't stay. I have lots of wedding invitations to deliver. I wear pink dress to wedding, you dress to match. Okay? I leave message for Ryoga on his cell phone to see if he can make it to ceremony, you let me know if you hear from him" she said with a final hug to her airen. She left with a smile on her face that she was able to cuddle her husband without Mousse interfering. She wondered why she hadn't thought of tricking him into marrying another girl years ago. All she'd have had to have done was to steal his glasses and find someone who was willing.

Ranma looked on the cover of the invitation and saw a slightly blurry picture that seemed to have been taken by someone's cell phone; both people wore their trademark clothes and neither looked very happy. "I think we should go talk to Ukyou, there's something fishy about all this" he suggest to Akane.

"I'm in, this does seem to be a little odd" she agreed, not knowing what to make of the peculiar scene.

Meanwhile Somewhere in the Rockies

Ryoga listened to his message again and couldn't really make heads or tails of it due to Shampoo's garbled Japanese and strong accent. It seemed to have something to do with a wedding between Mousse and Ukyou and something about the martial artist chef being twenty. Surely he was hearing things? Mousse would never marry another girl other then Shampoo herself and Ukyou would only ever marry Ranma.

Ryoga had given up on Akane when Akari had accepted his proposal. He still thought about the blue-haired girl from time to time, but finally had realized that she just wasn't into him.

Akari was all that a guy needed; she was beautiful, cheerful, smart, loving and accepted both sides of him. He considered himself a lucky man and had been travelling back to see her, when he got Shampoo's message. This he decided to investigate himself as Akari's place wasn't that far away from Nerima.

He was using a homemade map to guide him and kept on frowning at how huge the trees were...and that he'd never seen ones like them in Japan. He started naming out loud the landmarks he'd noted on his map "keep following the river until you reach an old stump, check" he said...though there seemed to be lots of stumps around. "Look for a tree with a burl on it in the shape of a J Lo bottom" he read and blushed slightly that he had noted that down, than looked up to see if he could find it...and couldn't. He studied the map and then frowned, "funny, nowhere does it say to look for a bug eyed monster" he remarked, scratching his head.

Realizing what he just had said, he slowly looked up to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him...they weren't. What stood before him was a twelve foot, vaguely ape like figure all covered in hair, it looked back at him, more curious then threatening, Ryoga continued to stare at the creature and than fled, startled by its appearance. The creature, thinking that his new friend wanted to him to follow him, started chasing after him. Finally Ryoga, got sick of having the large bodied creature following him, he turned around and with a leap, punched his lights out! The creature looked comically startled and then slowly hit the ground with a thump.

Ryoga instantly felt bad as the creature hadn't seemed to have been challenging him. He noted that it was breathing properly and then heated up some water and prepared a cup of instant ramen, which he left on a stump nearby in case it had only been hungry. He looked closer and noted that it seemed to have hobbit feet; "man I bet his wife is one lucky lady with feet that size" he remarked and picked up his pack to leave, never realizing he had just punched out the legendary Big Foot.

The Sasquatch woke up a few minutes later and with a groan, staggered to his feet. He sniffed the air and discovered the instant ramen. Liking the scent; he upended the cup into his mouth and licked his lips, the taste was exotic but nice. He tossed the cup over his shoulder and went home to tell him family about the strange encounter.

Ryoga continued along and eventually found a cabin. He knocked at the door and it was opened by a lumberjack. "Hi am I close to Nerima?" he asked him.

"Huh?" the man asked the Asian boy on his doorstep, not understanding the language he was speaking.

"I'm looking for Nerima, Tokyo" he repeated very slowly as if addressing a simpleton.

The man scratched his head "I'm Dave O'Connor, who might you be?" he asked him.

Ryoga, who'd been stranded all over the world and as result had been forced to learn at least a little bit of each language, was surprised when the man spoke in English. He'd learned that language quite well when he'd been stranded in a school in Connecticut. Everyone had assumed he was the new foreign exchange student and Ryoga had been living with a family and attending school in confusion, until the real Japanese boy had showed up. "Why are you speaking English?" he asked Dave.

"Well son, in Colorado people speak lots of languages I suppose, but I speak English" he pointed out reasonably.

"Colorado, as in America?" he said in a startled voice. "I'm supposed to be in Japan"

"How the devil did you get here?" Dave asked him in confusion.

"I walked here" Ryoga said.

"How's that even possible?" Dave asked the odd boy.

"I have no clue" Ryoga replied, hanging his head.

Dave took pity on the young boy; he seemed so lost and confused. "Look my wife just finished making supper and there's nothing around for miles. Why not come in and spend the night? I can drive you to the nearest airport tomorrow and we'll see about getting you home" he suggested. "You wouldn't want the Sasquatch to get you now would you?" he teased.

Ryoga had no idea what a Sasquatch was and chose to ignore his last statement. "Are you sure it's no trouble, I have money" Ryoga said pulling out a thick roll of cash. He picked up construction jobs easily and didn't spend money on much of anything as he camped out and ate lots of cheap instant ramen.

Dave eyed it and then called to his wife "hon, could you check online for what the foreign exchange rates are today?"


	3. Chapter 3

Mousse had been given a few days off with pay by the happy and seemingly generous Cologne help to sort out his new life...with his new wife. Ukyou had opted to take a few days off of school for fear of what the other students would think of her supposed infidelity towards Ranma. They were both awkward with the other and not sure how to even approach their new spouse. Mousse realized that he knew little about the cross dressing chef to even find common grounds for them to discuss and Ukyo simply found him weird with his love of weapons and the dozens of framed photos he kept of Shampoo in his new room. Then there was his prized collection of Shampoo memorabilia to consider; old hair brushes containing strand of purple hair, old clothes she threw out, old pictures she'd drawn as a child etc. These he had set on the dresser like some delusional shrine to the Amazon maiden. They were struggling through breakfast when there was a knock at the door. Ukyou's heart plunged to see that it was Ranma and Akane; she'd been hoping they wouldn't find out so soon.

She opened the door and said "Ran-chan this is a nice surprise" in falsely bright tone of voice; she'd been dreading this moment since Cologne had forced her to marry the Chinese martial artist or else announce them as lying and them possibly having to face legal reprisals.

"Ukyou, I need you to explain this..." he said in a dubious tone.

"And we need to know if you really are twenty" Akane echoed.

Ukyou stared in horror at the wedding invitation in his hand; she hadn't even known that they were being distributed. With wooden fingers she took it and grimly studied the unflattering photos of herself and Mousse on the cover. She quickly deduced that it had been the one taken at the courthouse. "It's not what you think" she said desperately.

"You're not twenty?" Akane asked her, she had nothing against the martial artist chef; she in fact liked her in her own fashion. She found Ukyou to be a strong and brave woman who cared nothing about what people thought about the way she lived her life.

"No that's true" she said as she sagged against the door frame. "I mean about the marriage. Please come in, Mousse and I shall explain it to you" she replied and opened the door to admit them. "Mousse we have guests" she called to him.

Mousse's eyes went wide to see Ranma, he expected him to pound him into the ground for getting mixed up with yet another one of his fiancées, instead he pulled up out chair for Akane and than himself, and sat down while regarding them with a calm expression on his face.

"It's like this..." Ukyou began and proceeded to tell them about her life up until that point and about their sham of a marriage.

"Wow that sounds horrible" Akane commented, feeling sympathy for what the young woman had gone through. She'd only known about her failed engagement to Ranma, not about her being booted out of her family and than losing her father and having to make it on her own at such a young age. Akane couldn't imagine being able to do that.

"It was" Ukyou admitted, "but its okay now. Once Mousse and I divorce, Ranma and I shall marry and we'll open our restaurant as planned" she said looking at Ranma.

Mousse could only stare at her, she suddenly seemed so delusional. Even Mousse knew that Ranma's plans were to take over the Tendo dojo and dedicate his life to martial arts. Didn't Ukyou know him at all? Mousse couldn't see Ranma doing anything in a restaurant...except eating everything in sight. "It's true, that's our arrangement. I'll be returning to China when Shampoo is ready to go" Mousse helpfully agreed.

"It's that wonderful that Mousse's onboard with us?" Ukyou said, not seeing the look of pity that Akane was giving her. She found her to be rather delusional as well with her insistence on her restaurant idea. Akane knew that Ranma knew how to cook, but expressed no interest in learning how to be a martial artist chef.

Ranma took a deep breath and glanced at Akane to confirm that now was the time to admit their secret, as they'd discussed on the way over. Her tiny nod of encouragement gave him the go ahead. "I'm sorry Ukyou but I can't marry you, I'm already married" he replied.

Ukyou dropped the tea cup that she'd been holding in shock. "But you can't be! We've been engaged forever! Who? When?" she demanded; leaping to her feet and burnishing her spatula at him in a threatening manner.

"We're married," Akane said in a calm voice. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you before, but we're keeping it a secret for now"

"This can't be true!" she cried with her heart racing and shook off Mousse's hands as they settled on her shoulders to try and calm the agitated girl.

Ranma looked down, feeling bad. He'd never meant to hurt anyone and hated the deception that he and his wife had been forced to live since their marriage.

Akane pulled out her gold wedding band that she normally wore around her neck on a gold chain, "we've been married for about six months..." she started.

"I thought I would never go for an uncute tomboy, but one night when we were fighting, I grabbed her and kissed her and...things happened" he said blushing.

Ukyou could only gap at the look of affection Akane gave him after he insulted her and she blushed too. Ukyou felt like she was going crazy.

"After...thing happened, we decided that because we didn't use protection, that we should marry right away just incase. I loved Akane since the minute a met her and stopped denying my feelings for her. We told Kasumi and she told our fathers, we were married in secret so that on one could prevent our wedding this time. We registered our marriage with our parent's blessings at the courthouse and had a small wedding at the dojo consisting of family only" Ranma explained.

"This can't be true!" Ukyou cried desperately, her eyes flying wildly from one to the other, hoping that they would start laughing at their jest.

"It's true," Akane said softly, "I wore my mother's wedding kimono and we used her wedding band. We decided to keep it a secret in case of retribution from, well...you other girls. Ranma moved into my room and we've been living as husband and wife ever since. That's why it wounds me so much when other girls flirt with him...that and we couldn't even tell anyone the truth. But now that you know we can put this behind us and all be friends. Here's a copy of our wedding certificate" she replied handing her the document

Mousse felt sorry for the shattered girl, but in a way it made sense to him: Ranma's need to always chase after Akane when she was hurting or in danger and his uncharacteristic tenderness towards her when he thought that no one was watching. All of this bespoke of how a husband would act towards the wife he loved. "Congratulations, I'm sorry if I've ever done anything to endanger Akane or cause you discomfort" he apologize, he hadn't known how to respond to their revelation until then.

Akane smiled "thanks Mousse, I would like us to be friends" she replied.

"This is bullshit!" Ukyou screamed as she tore up their marriage certificate. "Ranma we've been engaged since I was nine, you can't just marry another girl!"

Ranma looked at her in sympathy "Ukyou I'm sorry but I fell in love with Akane. Our engagement wasn't my choice but I my father's because he wanted your father's food. I didn't even know that we were engaged until you showed up and or know you were a girl back then. I'm perfectly willing to build you a new cart to make up for what you lost" he offered.

"What I lost? I lost my honour, I lost my family, I lost my womanhood and now I lost the man I love! You think a crappy cart is going to make up for that! Fuck you Ranma and fuck you Akane! I don't want to be friends with you traitors!" she screamed.

"Whoa Ukyou, you don't even know me. You're young and beautiful and will find someone who wants to open your restaurant" Ranma protested. "Perhaps you should give your marriage to Mousse a shot" he suggested. Ranma actually had felt sorry about how Shampoo seemed to abuse Mousse...or lead him on when it came to furthering her suit of Ranma. In Ukyou and Mousse he'd sensed the same level of loneliness and desperation and wondered if perhaps their sham could a blessing in disguise, if they both realized it.

"Yes my marriage, save your relationship advice for someone who cares! I fucking hate you now Ranma! You're dead to me!" she cried, turning her back on them all so that they couldn't see she was struggling not to cry.

"I want you to promise me that you won't seek retribution against my wife or our future children" he firmly insisted.

Ukyou's head almost exploded when he said children, she hadn't even thought about them. "I wouldn't fucking dare harm a hair on the head of your precious _whore _Akane or your future little shits" she snarled. "Now take your gender dubious ass out of my apartment and cram your marriage up your ass!"

"You will not insult my wife like..." Ranma cried, leaping to his feet; Akane's soft touch on his hand prevented him from taking action.

"It's okay, she's hurting and needs to vent. She'll come around. Now we should leave" she said gently. She bowed to her former rival, "I'm sorry that we caused you such pain and hope that you shall become our friend again someday. You're always welcome in our house," she gently said and took her husband's hand and led him for Ukyou's apartment...and out of her life. Ukyou watched the Saotomes' depart through humid eyes. She felt like her heart was breaking for the second time in a short while and as if her life was over. She jumped when she felt a hand settle on her upper back and she turned to look into the sympathetic face of Mousse.

"Do you want to talk? I know how it feels when the one you love marries another" he said in a soft voice.

Ukyou almost burst into tears; it was the straw that broke the camel's back. "Like I want anything from you! How dare you compare us, I'm not a pathetic doormat like you are! How you snivel after Shampoo and beg makes me sick! You get out too! I'm sick of this place and all of its fucked up people! This restaurant's going on the market tomorrow and I'm getting the fuck away from here!" she cried.

"But I don't have anywhere to go" he protested.

Ukyou looked at him and then calmed down a bit "Look I need some time to myself, just leave for a while. We'll talk when you get back" she said reasonably.

"Okay" he agreed and padded down the stairs. Ukyou stared after him and waited until he closed the door and burst into tears. Sniffling she went into the kitchen poured herself a huge glass of sake and knocked it back!

He was on his way to an appointment when he heard someone calling his name, "yo Mousse, where you going?" Ranma called, surprised to see the newlywed martial artist again so soon.

"Ukyou needed some alone time, so I'm on my way to an appointment" Mousse replied.

"Akane's gone off to her cooking class. Believe me, she needs all the help she can get" he said with a shudder. "Could I walk with you a bit?" Ranma asked.

Mousse was a little surprised that Ranma wanted to talk to him; it's not like they made a point of hanging out together. "S-sure" he stammered and was almost shocked when Ranma, his former enemy fell in beside him, strolling in a causal way with his hands in his pockets. "Thanks for what you said to Akane back there, she wasn't sure how you would all react" he offered.

"I like Akane; she's a nice girl with a heart of gold. Did she ever tell you about the time we went to the movies together?" Mousse said, than realized what is sounded like. Meeting Ranma's stormy gaze, he hastily added "It was my birthday and everyone forgot, so I decided to treat myself to a movie. Akane and her two friends had decided to go to the same one and found me in the lineup. When they found out it was my birthday, they insisted on paying for the movie and took me for ice cream afterwards. I didn't mean it was _just _Akane and I"

Ranma smiled "that sounds like her, she's a wonderful girl"

"I'm happy for you" Mousse said in all honesty. "After all, you married to Akane means that you aren't after Shampoo anymore, win win for me" he said.

"Shampoo irritates the crap out of me" Ranma admitted. "Besides you're married too. How's that win win?" Ranma asked.

"Ukyou doesn't want me any more then want her" Mousse replied. "She's just helping me up for some odd reason"

"She's doing it because she's also a nice girl. In case you haven't noticed, she's gorgeous smart and has a strong personality" Ranma pointed out.

"I like my girls curvy" Mousse replied.

"Hey Ukyou has curves. Admit it, you just like Shampoo. Why Shampoo?" Ranma concluded, finding out with surprise he was enjoying talking with Mousse. It was a refreshing change from them always fighting.

Mousse blushed a bit "why Akane?" he countered.

"I don't know, I just love her" Ranma said, liking be able to discuss his marriage with a person outside of his family.

"That's how I feel about Shampoo" he replied. Reaching his destination, he did the secret knock. "Sorry Ranma but you can't c..." he said as the door swung open.

"Mousse you're here. You know you're not supposed to bring people here, our...project's top secret" a fat Japanese kid with thick glasses shouted.

"I didn't mean..." he stammered, the first kid was joined by a bunch of people who looked remarkably like him. Ranma's eyes narrowed, he knew otakus when he saw them.

"Mousse what is this?" he asked.

"Come might as well in, you know the way now anyway" the first one said in exasperation.

Ranma was led to an odd looking metal machine on wheels. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's our secret weapon in the next upcoming robot wars. This is Killer, I designed him, Shinji built him and Mousse designed the hidden weapons for him," the fat kid, who'd been introduced as Kenji. Killer looked like a chrome plated vacuum machine body on wheels with a shiny death head face.

"Robot wars?" Ranma repeated dubiously.

"Let's fire him up and show you what he can do" Kenji said, giving the shiny head an affection pat. Ranma watched as the remote control animated the small robot and a laser sprouted out of nowhere and vaporized a C3P0 stand up and then whirling blades shot out to kill the one beside it of William Shatner as Captain Kirk. They powered Killer down and all eyes came to rest on Ranma expectantly.

"That's so cool! Does he know any martial arts moves?" Ranma said.

"No but he can certainly destroy things. Welcome Ranma" Kenji said.

"So the thick glasses aren't just for show?" he asked Mousse.

"No I'm afraid I'm a s.f., comic book loving cyber geek" Mousse admitted. "Would you like to see the video game I'm working on? It's based on my experience with you all in Nerima. I call it Ranma ½, I hope you don't mind"

"I'm honoured, but you have to explain this one half business to me..."

Meanwhile

Aiko was winging her way towards Nerima...and making pit stops at all the popular shopping destinations along the way. When Ukyou had been young she had loved to dress up like a little princess and Aiko was unaware how much that had changed as the male detective had never really noticed her preference for male attire and breast bindings.

"Twelve kimonos in various shades of pink; check. Hair jewelry so that she can bind up her hair as befitting a married woman and still look attractive for her husband; check. Floral house slippers and ruffled aprons to match that will go with the kimonos; check. Estee Lauder makeup; check. Her great-grandmother's tea service and China; check. Tons of ruffled blouses and summer dresses that are both demure but sexy; check. Oh my Ukyou's going to love all of it, she'd going to be such a beautiful wife" she enthused to her assistant, who smiled and nodded back to the happy woman.


	4. Chapter 4

Ranma was surprised at how the time flew when hanging out with the otakus, they turned out to be rather entertaining in their way. Mousse's video game was fun to play and Ranma couldn't be offended at being transformed into a girl with water as Mousse had included his own transformation. It proved to be fun to battle their likenesses without any cuts or bruises resulting as happened in real life. However his mind did boggle a bit when it came to their discussing comic books and sci fi books in general. Such as: Nightwing vs. Robin, Earth 1 vs. Earth 2, and the psychology of the Incredible Hulk. Ranma hadn't known there had been more than one Green Lantern and couldn't figure out who Zaphod Beeblebrox was whatsoever. However he did show them his own brand of intelligence when he got a hold of the remote for Killer and made him do martial arts moves with his weapons. They were in awe of his prowess and he was invited to control one of Killer's battles in the ring. Ranma accepted.

It was so late by the time that Ranma got home, that he found Akane asleep in their bed. He could tell that she was mad by how her mallet lay on his side of the bed and felt rather guilty about not calling her as he'd meant to. Leaning over, he kissed her forehead, admiring how her lips were parted innocently in sleep, how her short hair sprawled on her pillow and how her silken lashes lay on her adorable cheeks. She frowned and blinked herself back to wakefulness. "Ranma where have you been? I made dumplings just for you and you weren't even here!" she demanded.

"Relax baby, I was geeking out with Mousse and his friends. There were no girls involved. Not a real shock, they're all geeks," he said in amusement, he liked how she got jealous of him.

Akane was surprised by that "what did you do?

"We discussed comic books (apparently they have them in Mousse's tribe; not so primitive after all), I played myself on a video game and I taught a robot martial arts" Ranma replied.

"I'm afraid I don't understand; you're not making any sense" Akane said in confusion.

"I was bad for not calling you, why don't I make it up to you?" Ranma said with a wicked grin as he pulled her pajama bottoms down.

Akane couldn't help grinning back, "don't you ever get enough? You're a machine, you wicked, wicked man. I can never stay angry with you."

"I'm your wicked, wicked man" he said with a purr in his voice as he slid his hand up his wife's silken toned thigh. "So why don't we have a little fun and then we'll snack on some of your delicious dumplings? You kept some for me, right?" his only answer was a moan.

Mousse's Home Coming was Not so Pleasant

Mousse got home to find Ukyou sprawled out the couch as drunk as a lord.

"Mousse, come have a drink with me" she slurred at him.

"I'm not old enough to drink" he said, regarding the pickled girl, her eyes were swollen from crying and she wore a bulky bathrobe.

She sat up, "I'm not going to call the cops on you, have a drink with me!" she said, pouring from the one sake bottle that still had some in it; there were three others that were empty. She did manage to get at least half of the alcohol in the glass.

Mousse took a seat and sipped it tentatively while watching her. "How do you feel?" he asked her cautiously.

"I feel great, who needs fucking men anyway!" she cried.

"I don't" Mousse said ironically.

"I don't either!" she said and stood up and slammed her glass against his in a toast; he just managed not to drop it. "Fuck Ranma, who needs him"

"He's overrated" Mousse agreed.

"He's stupid" she said weaving on her feet. "He's rude, he's boorish, he's handsome and..." she said and then burst into tears and covered her face. "What's wrong with him? How come he loves Akane? Look at me, I'm so much better looking then her" she cried fling off her bathrobe. Underneath she wore only a brief sleep shirt. Mousse could only stare and blush; he hadn't realized how curvy she was without her or masculine garb. She obviously wasn't wearing her breast bindings and her breasts in question were quite large, her waist seemed achingly small and her hips, although slender, were wonderfully feminine. Mousse stood up to brace her and placed his hand on her shoulders.

"Love isn't about having a smaller waistline or having longer hair, it's about the one you love and you don't get to choose who" he said softly.

"Bullshit, Akane's clumsy, has an awkward body and wears stupid clothes. I'm beautiful and graceful" she said trying to spin like a ballerina, only to stumble into Mousse and both ended up on the couch with her on his lap. Mousse froze to feel a firm female bottom pressing against _there_; he was a virgin after all and had never held a woman so intimately before. She smelled of sake and vanilla and it maddened him, she herself gripped him back and was surprised how under his baggy clothes, Mousse felt like he was solid muscle. Mousse quickly averted his eyes from the crotch of her plain white cotton panties that her lifted nightshirt revealed and from the sight of slim toned legs that seemed to go on forever.

"We should get you to bed" he said pushing her to her feet, his glasses had come off and Ukyou found herself realizing that Mousse was actually quite attractive with his almost beautiful face and large aquamarine eyes. His lips were full and looked so kissable. Whereas he was studying her just as intensely, wondering why he'd ever thought her plain. She was beautiful. Blushing and feeling guilty and confused about admiring another girl, he bundled her into her bathrobe.

Controlling her stumbling, he walked her into her room; she collapsed on the bed with a giggle. "I'm so plastered"

"Yes you are?" Mousse agreed, pulling back the covers. Suddenly she seized him and started kissing him with the strength of barracuda. She would get even with Ranma for rejecting her by having her first time with Mousse.

Mousse was shocked, he wrenched his head away. His first kiss was stolen! "What are you doing?" he demanded.

She didn't look the least bit concerned. "I want to fuck; I'm tired of waiting and saving myself. I want to lose my virginity _tonight_. Come on, we don't have to tell Shampoo. Like she would care anyway" she said with a laugh that ended in a snort.

"Ukyou, I'm not the guy for you. I don't believe in causal sex and certainly wouldn't do this with you in that condition. You'll meet the right guy someday and it will happen for you" Mousse replied, drawing the covers over her.

"You're my husband, why not you?" she cried, "aren't I pretty enough?"

"I love Shampoo; we agreed that this was a marriage just on paper. You're beautiful, but I can't cheat on the woman I love" Mousse reassured her. "You're first time should be with someone you love."

"My first time with a _man _you mean; I've already been with a woman. Does that shock you?" she asked with a snide laugh, she wanted to see the little goody two shoes shocked. She was smarting that the first man she had propositioned had rejected her.

"No, it's quite common in female dominated society for one woman to choose another as mate. Such pairings are not unusual, unmarried males usually volunteer as sperm donor if they wish to procreate" he explained.

"Sounds like your home is kind of fucked up. Was Shampoo the only girl who liked you at all, is that why you're so into her?" Ukyou asked him.

Mousse drew himself up to his full height at the insult leveled against him. "I'll have you know that I was much in demand back there. My family's well connected politically and rich by some standard and I'm considered to be sufficiently handsome. Tons of mothers sent invitations to fight their daughters to my mother, I had to leave to find my Shampoo before she accepted any of them" he coldly replied.

"Even with the goofy glasses?" she asked, her need for revenge sex had abated and she found herself merely curious.

"They don't care if I can't see as long as I put attractive children in their bellies" Mousse replied. "Yes, I'm considered a catch where I'm from, _does that shock you_?"

"A little" she said in a voice so earnest that they both cracked up.

"We'll talk in the morning, go to sleep" Mousse said and turned out the lights and went to close her door.

"Mousse?" he heard a small voice say.

"Yes?" he answered as he paused in the hallway.

"You really think I'm gorgeous?" she asked.

"Yes you are" he replied with a smile in his voice.

She mumbled something that sounded like "fucking stupid Ranma" and then passed out; Mousse closed the door softly behind him and got ready for his own bed.

The Next Morning

Ukyou slowly and painfully made her way downstairs wearing her bulky bathrobe. She winced at the bright light, her head pounded and her tongue felt like it was a piece of cardboard. Mousse took one look at the too pale girl and struggled not to laugh at her disheveled appearance; it looked like someone had taken an eggbeater to her normally luxurious hair. "Morning" he sang, "would you like some breakfast?" laying a glass of water and some tea in front of her. She gulped the water gratefully and than glared at the too-cheerful Chinese martial artist.

"Do you have to yell?" she snapped.

"I'm talking in my normal voice" he said in a puzzled tone of voice.

"Talk softly" Ukyou growled.

"Okay, I made some miso soup, broiled fish and rice. Want some?" he asked.

The thought of food made her stomach queasy, she glanced at Mousse. He wore a fresh robe and pants and was perfectly groomed at that time in the morning. She decided that she might hate him after all. "No thanks, you always this cheerful in the morning?"

"I love mornings; I always wake up with tons of energy. I've already been for a jog, hit the market for ingredients for breakfast, returned my library books and then came back here to shower and make breakfast" he replied, humming as he put his food on a plate and sat opposite the hungover girl. Giving her a cheery smile, he tucked into his breakfast when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it" he said laying aside his chopsticks.

"You do that" she muttered.

Mousse opened the door and his eyes widened in surprise to be staring at an older version of Ukyou. She had the same wealth of chocolate brown her, only shorter and gray eyes rather then blue. She wore a thin golden brown silk sweater with a matching skirt with a gold belt and sandals. Her only jewelry was a gold bangle...and a giant spatula on her back. She squealed and threw her arms around him. "May I help you?" he stammered as he blushed to be held in female arms again for the second time in a twenty four hour time period.

She leaned back "you must by my son-in-law, aren't you adorable..."

"Mousse?" he supplied cautiously.

""Mousse, my but my daughter likes the pretty ones and feel those muscles" she said giving his arms an enthusiastic squeeze, causing him to blush even more. "You're quite the Japanese hot cake are you?"

"I'm Chinese" he corrected.

"Pish, I'm not one of those Japanese racial purists like some other people; an Asian is an Asian as far as I'm concerned. Would you take me to my daughter, son-in-law? Do give me your arm, its so much more civilized that way" she said, latching onto him and leaning her head on his shoulder as he led her up the stairs. Mousse felt his life was just getting weirder and weirder.

"Ukyou your mother's here" he called ahead in a strangled voice.

Ukyou was leaning on the table with her head cradled on her arms, when she heard what Mousse said. Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide to see the pretty, older woman holding onto Mousse. "Mom", she breathed as she drank in every inch of her.

"Ukyou!" she cried and went to hug her and Ukyou burst into tears to be held by her again.

Mousse could only wonder at Ukyou's extreme reaction to her mother and contemplate if family reunions were always like this.

Finally Aiko pulled back and examined her daughter and realized...she looked like crap. "Ukyou is this how you would appear before your husband. Look at how frayed your bathrobe is. Have you even brushed you teeth yet? A married woman must always appear her best from the minute she gets up in the morning until she goes to sleep at night."

Ukyou could only open and close her mouth, she hadn't seen her mother since she was nine and here she was lecturing her about her appearance! "Excuse me?" she exclaimed.

"Well we'll have time to remedy that, I bought tons of clothes for you. It's time to take you home. Welcome back to the family" she said, hugging her again.

"But I thought that I was disowned because of the whole cart incident?" Ukyou said in a confused tone of voice.

"You've restored your honour; your father restored his by dying. You did by first opening a restaurant to further our art; sadly that wasn't enough for your grandfather. It was the broken marriage contract that really bugged him, but he's lifted the ban since you got married. It's time to come home to your family; you have so much to learn. New techniques, new recipes, the world would be your oyster. And of course Mousse would be welcome to live with us and train in our art if he wishes.

"Wait you mean I just had to marry to get my position back?" Ukyou cried. Then it hit her, this was a get out of Nerima free card. She would be surrounded by martial artists like herself and learn new techniques to become even more powerful!

"Well it has to be a real marriage of course; this isn't some immigration marriage is it? No offense intended, I was just wondering about the whole China thing" Aiko said giving him an apologetic smile.

"Well, actually..." Mousse began.

"We're madly in love and can't wait to have kids. Right honey bunny?" she said standing on her toes and rubbing her nose against Mousse's. "I'll explain later" she mouthed at him.

"W-what?" he asked, staring down at her.

"Come on, don't be shy, Mousse-chan. You married me in a fit of passion" Ukyou encouraged.

"Of course, she's my sweetie baby" he cooed, ignoring the retching face Ukyou made at him.

"Oh that's great! Sorry I missed the wedding" Aiko said sadly.

"It was just a registration at the courthouse" Mousse replied.

"No real wedding? That's so sad" Aiko said.

"Oh we have a restaurant booked to do the real one in a few weeks" Ukyou sang.

"Oh that's wonderful" Aiko said, clapping so her gold bangle twinkled. "Are you going with a traditional kimono or a western style wedding dress?"

"I haven't thought about it" Ukyou said nervously.

"What sort bride that doesn't care what she wears on her wedding day? It's unheard of! Don't worry, I'll pull some strings and we'll get you a dress within a week," she said snapping her fingers. "I think a western style dress would be fun"

"Dress?" Ukyou said weakly. She hadn't worn one since the time that she'd decided that Ranma wanted a more feminine type woman.

"My treat, I insist. As for your attire, I brought enough clothes to provide you with a whole new wardrobe. I hope you still like pink" she said.

"Pink, she _loooooooves_ pink" Mousse offered in amusement, ignoring how Ukyou flipped him the bird behind her mother's back.

"Do you like it on her?" Aiko anxiously asked.

"My kookie buns looks great in anything that she wears, but she looks particularly fetching in pink" Mousse replied.

"Great, I'll get my chauffeur to start unloading my packages and then its mother-daughter makeover time!" she said clapping her hands and went to give instructions to him.

"Kookie buns?" Ukyou inquired.

"What the hell are you on about?" Mousse snarled back.

"Look, I need you to act like you really are my husband; it's a matter of life or death. I'll explain later" she urgently whispered to him.

Aiko reappeared, "I was wondering if there was a spare room here I could stay in? I know that newlyweds hate having Mom around to interfere, but I haven't spent time with my daughter for so long and would like to get to know you Mousse. Mind if I impose for a few days?" she asked.

Mousse and Ukyou's eyes popped at the implication that if they gave her Mousse's room, they would have to share Ukyou's. "Well..." Ukyou stammered.

"Pretty please, I'll help you in the restaurant and can start teaching you new things" she shrewdly said.

"Sure but the sheets need cleaning and Mousse keeps his wardrobe in there, the closet space is rather limited in this apartment" Ukyou replied.

"Not a problem, I'll wash the sheets and unpack myself. Mousse can come in whenever he needs something to wear. As for your nightly activities, don't worry about me hearing them, I can sleep through anything" Aoki added innocently, causing both people to have a spontaneous blushing contest.

"I guess you can stay" Ukyou said, seeing no other choice in the matter. Clearly her mother was just as stubborn as herself.

"Great, Mousse could you show me to my room?" she asked latching onto his arm again.

"I guess" he replied, leading her to his room while Ukyou trailed meekly behind.

She peered into it, "it's small but it'll do" she declared. "However, what's with all the pictures of this purple haired girl?"

"That's our friend Shampoo, she sometimes spends the night" Ukyou said.

"And she put up these pictures of herself?" Aiko said incredulously.

"She likes looking at her body to decide what to wear" Mousse threw in impulsively.

"I could see that working, I might try that at home" Aiko said with a shrug. "Well I must say that I don't think much of her housekeeping skills, look at the mess she left on the dresser. What is this, old chewing gum? Why these clothes are practically rags? Who would keep these old, faded pictures that some kid did? Ewww, used napkins. Is that a dental retainer? How weird. And look at the state of this hairbrush" she said distastefully, examining Mousse's prized collection. "Ukyou get me a wastepaper basket, all of this has to be tossed," Aiko ordered as she started yanking purple hairs from the hairbrush.

"Wait" Mousse cried until Ukyou dragged him out.

"Look I'll sneak your Shampoo collection out of the garbage if you play along with this" she whispered to him.

"But where will I sleep?" he whispered back.

"I'll stash my bedroll under the bed, you can sleep on that. It's just for a few days. Just play along with me"

"You have a deal, but you have to put every single hair back into that brush" Mousse said, pointing towards the room.

Ukyou wrinkled her nose at the idea and then nodded.

"And you have to wear whatever she wants" he added smugly.

"Hell no" she exploded.

"Perhaps I should go have a chat with my mother-in-law?" he said in a sing-song voice.

Ukyou swallowed hard and said "deal"

"Good because it sounds like bridal training starts today" he added, lifting up one eyebrow.

"Ukyou come here dear, I started unpacking your presents and think that this pink ruffled blouse with this charcoal skirt would look particularly fetching for today. Why don't we get you bathed and decide how you should wear your hair up?" Aiko called.

Ukyou glared at Mousse, who hid a snicker behind his hand. "Coming mother," she said through gritted teeth.


End file.
